Keto Sloppy Joes Recipe
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 10/19/2023 - Last updated on 12/07/2023
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This Keto Sloppy Joes recipe is an easy low-carb dinner perfect to fill your favorite keto burger buns for only 3 grams of net carbs per serving.
Sloppy Joes are an American favorite dinner recipe that my kids love. But, unfortunately, all sloppy joes filling recipes contain added sugar from ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar.
Here’s a way to make Keto Sloppy Joe using wholesome ingredients and packed with flavors.
How To Make Keto Sloppy Joes
First, if you need some keto hamburger buns, you can use my bun recipe or buy some from the store. For this recipe, I used store-bought low-carb keto buns made from lupin flour, and they are very light and fluffy, similar to regular bread, but only 2 grams net carb per buns.
Ingredients
The Sloppy Joes mix is the most important part of cutting down sugar in this recipe. You will love that it takes only 20 minutes to prepare for a quick low-carb dinner.
- Ground Beef – You can also use other ground meat if you like pork, turkey, or chicken more, go for it.
- Sugar-Free Ketchup – I am using a keto-friendly ketchup that is naturally sweetened with vegetables and no added sugar.
- Yellow Mustard
- Onion
- Avocado Oil or olive oil
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Water to thin out the sauce.
- Brown Sugar-Free Crystal Sweetener like brown erythritol. This is optional, especially if your sugar-free ketchup is already sweet, you can leave it out.
- Tomato Paste
- Apple Cider Vinegar or white vinegar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation
- In a non-stick skillet, warm avocado oil over medium heat, then add diced onion. Stir and cook for about 1 minute or until translucent and fragrant.
- Stir in ground beef, break the meat into pieces using a wooden spoon, and cook, and stir until all the meat is no longer pink.
- Then, to make the sloppy joe sauce, add sugar-free ketchup, yellow mustard, tomato paste, spices, and water. Stir to coat the cooked meat, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is shiny and thick, and coat the meat evenly.
If too thick, add a splash of more water to thin out. - Taste and adjust with salt and pepper or a pinch of chili powder if you like it spicy.
Serving
To serve this keto sloppy joes filling, add about 1/2 cup of filling into keto burger buns and any low-carb vegetables you love inside or on the side.
You can also serve this keto sloppy joe in lettuce wraps to avoid the buns, and add any of your favorite grated cheese on top like cheddar or Emmental.
The best vegetables to add to your low-carb sloppy joe recipe are:
- Coleslaw
- Shredded red cabbage
- Slices of gherkins
- Slices of English cucumber
- Bell peppers
The best low-carb side dishes to sloppy joe are roasted vegetables or keto protein chips.
We love roasted rutabagas, keto fries, or mashed cauliflower. These low-carb side dishes are simple to make and add a good bunch of veggies and fiber to your meal.
Storage Instructions
This sloppy joes recipe is perfect to meal prep a week of low-carb dinner. You can double or triple the recipe and store the sloppy joes mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
You can also freeze the filling in freezer bags for up to one month. Thaw in the fridge the day before. Rewarm the filling in a microwave-safe bowl or in a non-stick saucepan.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some options to substitute ingredients in the sloppy joes mixture if you need them.
- Gluten-Free – Make sure you use gluten-free keto burger buns. The remaining ingredients in this low-carb sloppy joes filling are gluten-free.
- Beef – You can also use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork.
- Sweetener-Free – Skip the monk fruit sweetener and make sure you use a no-sweetener-added, naturally-sweetened ketchup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are my answers to your most common questions about sloppy joes.
Yes, a regular sloppy Joe sauce is very high in added sugar because of the ingredients used in the sauce: ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Plus, the burger bun of a classic sloppy joe recipe is made from wheat flour and, therefore, not low-carb.
You can serve the sloppy joe filling in lettuce leaves to make lettuce wraps or on top of mashed cauliflower. It’s also a delicious way to make casserole mixed with roasted cauliflower or roasted rutabagas.
More Easy Keto Recipes
If you like simple keto lunches, try the following recipes:
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Keto Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- ¾ cup Sugar-Free Ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Yellow Mustard
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2-3 tablespoons Water
- 1 tablespoon Brown Crystal Sweetener I used brown erythritol
- 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 2 tablespoons Onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Avocado Oil
- 6 Keto Burger Buns I used store-bought
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pan, warm avocado oil. Add onion, stir, and cook until translucent and fragrant – about 1-2 minutes.
- Add ground beef, break the meat with a wooden spoon, and cook on all sides until no more pink pieces can be seen and all the meat is cooked.
- Stir in sugar-free ketchup, tomato paste, yellow mustard, and all the spices.
- Stir and cook, adding more water to thin out the sauce.
- Taste the sauce and adjust, adding more sugar-free sweetener for a sweeter taste or more salt and pepper to season.
- Serve with pickles in a keto burger bun of your choice.
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Meal Plans Recipe Ebooks Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy Sweeteners
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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I stumbled upon this keto sloppy joe recipe a few weeks ago, and it’s become a family favorite! My kids don’t even realize it’s low-carb. Thank you for making my meal planning easier.
Thank you!!
My husband and I started our keto journey last month, and your sloppy joe recipe has been a lifesaver. It satisfies our comfort food cravings without derailing our progress. Much love from our keto kitchen!
I’m glad you both liked it!
I’m not much of a cook, but your clear instructions made it a breeze. These keto sloppy joes turned out perfectly on my first attempt! My friends were impressed. Cheers!
Thank you!!